The future is looking polluted! What can help?
The Guardian covered a concerning report from the First Street Foundation indicating that a significant portion of the continental US will face unhealthy air pollution levels by 2054. Currently, one in four Americans already experience unhealthy air quality, and this is expected to increase by 50% in the coming decades, affecting an estimated 125 million Americans. This rise in pollution is attributed to climate-related factors such as wildfires and heatwaves, which have escalated in recent years, contributing to increased air pollution levels.
The single most important thing we can do to reduce the impacts of climate change is to reduce our use of fossil fuels. We are constantly having to remind the Utah legislature of this, as they attempt to ramp up extraction across the state.
As far as increasing pollution from wildfires, the approach taken by state and federal agencies in managing forest fires is problematic. UPHE argues against the common practices of logging, thinning, and controlled burning as methods to reduce wildfire risk. These methods are counterproductive and exacerbate rather than alleviate the problem. The logging industry has had an influence on much of the research on forest thinning.
Controlled burning is concerning because wood smoke is some of the most toxic pollution you can breathe in. A 2019 study writes “In the U.S., prescribed burning is very popular, but its practice entails air pollution concerns. Biomass burning emissions remain one of the largest sources of PM2.5 in the U.S., with an estimated 14% of total primary PM2.5 emissions coming from prescribed burning, while wildfires account for 16%.” This means that prescribed burns put out almost as much PM2.5 as a natural wildfire.